Scutching machine



l. ETRICH.

SCUTCHING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED NOV. 18. 1919.

Patented Feb. 7, 1922.

2 SHEETS-SHEET l.

I. ETRICH.

SCUTCHING MACHINE- APPLICATION FILED NOV. 18. 1919.

Patented Feb. 7, 1922.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2- UNITED STATES v "PATENT OFFICE,

IGN'AZ ETRICH, OF OBERALTSTADT, NEAR TR-AUTENAU, BOHEMTA, ASSIGNOR TO IGNAZ ETRICH, JUNIOR, OF OBERALTSTADT, NEAR TRAUTENAU, STATE OF GZECHO-SLOVAKIA. e

souToHTNG MACHINE. f

Specification of Letters Patent. Patented Feb 7, 1922.

Application filed November 18, 1919. Serial No. 338,934.-

(GRANTED UNDER THE PROVISIONS OF THE ACT OF MARCH 3, 1921, 41 STAT. L., 1313.)

1 "o aZZ whom it may concern Be it known that I, ienAz ETmeH, a subject of the Czecho-Fllovak Republic, resid- 108,452/16027 issued; Belgium, June th,

1918; France, August 27, 1919; Sweden, September 8th, 1919;) and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact desoription of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains'lto make and use the same.

' Thisinvention has for its object to pro vide an improved machine for the continuous scutching of flax, hempor the like.

It has beenproposed to use in scutching and similar machines a plurality of rings adapted to hold the stricks or leaves at both ends. alternately while the other ends of such stricks have been worked upon, means being provided to transfer the stricks in a vertical or horizontal position from one of such rings to the next following.

According to this invention the bent or 7 broken stalks are placed iii-handfuls or stricks by hand upon, and fixed with one end into a horizontal ring which feeds the stricks over guide plates to a scutching apparatus. After passing through this scutching apparatus the stricks are placed automatically upon and fixed at their other ends into a second and similar ring which conveys them to a second scutching apparatus which treats the ends of the stricks that have been fixed in the first ring. The stricks coming from the second ring may be placed upon and fixed into a third and a fourth ring, and generally any desired number of pairs of rings in succession, so that the said stricksare alternately treated at each end.

The manner in which this invention isto be performed will now be more particularly described with reference to the accompanying drawings which illustrate by way of example a practical construction of an improved machine according to this invention. In these drawings:

, Figure 1 1813. plan, of'a constructional form of a continuously operating scutching machine according to this invention;

Figure 2 is a section on the line A-A of Figure 1, I

' Figure Sis a plan of a detail. I

Figure 41 a side elevation partly in section of the delivery end ofthe endless cords and the chain of blocks. 1

Figure 5 is a front elevation on a slightly enlarged scale.

The stricks or handfuls of stalks of flax, hemp or thelike which have passed between the breaking rolls pass on to, a table 'It whence the workman takes them and places them upon the first ring R. In order to ensure that the stricks shall. be placed as nearly as possible radially to the ring, a conveyer band 0 is provided (below the latter) which takes with it therfree ends of the stricks; this conveyor band travels in proximity to the charging place inthe same direction as the periphery of the ring. The workman pushes one end. of the stricks under endless'elastic cords-s which run over small wheels Z and which pass alonggrooves 1 in the upper side of the ring R, and are pressed forcibly into these grooves by an endless chain of blocks K, so that the stricks are held firmly and securely between the ring and the cord.

the endless chain of blocks K runs over two guides of. which the upper one consists of an arc-shaped guide channel 0 and the lower one consists of small wheels 0 which are mounted in a freely rotatable manner upon levers h that are under the pressure of springs a; the small wheels 0 form an arc concentric to the ring. The levers h, as well as the upper guide channel 0 for the chain of blocks, are mounted above the ring R in such a manner that the chain of blocks has its lower stretch that runs under the 'pressurewheels c, pressed against the upcounte gearing and engage in the toothed underside of the'ring v 1 By means of this apparatus, the stricks which are pushed by the workman underneath the cords s are drawn by the latter under the chain of blocks and are clamped in the channels 0, whilst their free ends pass over guide plates 6, whereby the stricks are held horizontally andin this posi tion are conveyed over fluted rolls to a scutching apparatus m, the construction of which does not form part of the present invention. During-the passage of the stricks' that the stricks will place themselves with their ends that have been treated in the scutching apparatus m approximately radial to the second ring R and will be gripped by the cords s and the block chain K of the said second ring, whilst the other ends of the stricks are still clamped to the first ring R. As the two rings R, R continue to rotate, the stricks are carriedalong' gripped at both ends and are finally released from thering It owing to'their ends which are clamped to this ring, passing away from underthe second guide wheel Z of the cords 8.

Then the stricks are conveyed from the second ring It Over the guide plate 6 in a horizontal position to the second scutching apparatus m" where their ends that have been clamped in the first ring are now treated.

Itone treatment of each end of the stricks is thought sufficient, the stricks are laid aside after passing under the second guide wheel oi th e cords s of the second'ring P If it is desiredthat each end of the stricks shall be subjected to more than one treatment, then one or more further pairs of rings are added to the pair of rings R, R the transference of the stricks from one ring to the next one taking place automatically in the same manner as is above described with reference to the transference from ring R tothe ring R. Then the two ends of the stricks are treated alternately.

Owing to the circumstance that the;

stricks are subjected to a continuous treatment, the efficiency of the machine is very h gh and owing to the circumstance that the stricks are presented horizontally to the scutching devices; the cleaningis far more thorough than when the stricks are treated vertically. I p Moreover, the repeated treatment of each end of the stricks (when more than one pair of rings is employed) enables the clearly ing process to be completed in one operation and thus saves the fibres.

The arrangement of these parts at th drawing in end is in all respects similar to that at the delivery end.

The endless chain of blocks consists of a series of blocks K suitably hinged the one to the other. In the lower or working stretch the blocks are guided along that part (substantially one half) of the wheel mov ing towards the next following wheel by guide rollers c 0 journalled at the ends oi? the ends of the arc of the circleoccupied by the levers h, and are free to revolve on journals rigidly-held 111 a hired relation to the ring, say R.

The rings are providedwith concentric grooves r on their upper face andthe chain of blocks K and the series of the levers h and their, guide rollers o are. soarranged that they follow the grooves r in'that part- (substantially one half) of the ring, say R moving towards the next'following ring. Endless elastic'cords s s are so arranged that their working stretches are 'forced by the working stretch of the endless chain of blocks .K into that part of the grooves 'r which is under the guide rollers 0 a oi the lever it, while the idle stretches of the said cords s 8 run above the rings; theendless cords s s are guided by groovedpulleys Z Z adjacent to the-guide Wheels K of theendless chain of blocks K and situated in ve1'tical planes substantially parallel tothe axes of the wheels K or radial to the ring R as clearly shown in Figures 1, 4 and 5. 1

Ill)

The operation is the following: The stricks i are pushed between the elastic cords 8 s and the ring, say R at the drawing in end'and as the. ring continues to revolve and takes with it by friction the working stretches of ring past the series of leversh until the stricks reach the delivery end of the series of levers h and the cords s where. they are released. V 1

- Claims 1. In a scutching machinethe combination of a plurality of horizontal rings arranged closely side by side, means for revolving;

such ings on their geometrical axesfa ja the cords s set the endless chain of blocks K the ends of the stricks are caught and firmly held between and move along with the cent rings revolving in opposite directions,

cords of each ring and means forholding the working stretch of the cords against the grooves in its ring, the workingstretch of such cords moving at the same speed and in the same direction as the part of the grooves of its ring which these cords follow and adapted to hold stricks of the material to be scutched at one end in the said grooves whereby the said stricks are carried round by the rings, means for scutching the other ends of the said stricks, while the latter are thus carried round and means for disengagi on the first named ends of stricks from one ring and presenting them to and engaging them with the next following ring with the other end of the stricks in a substantially horizontal plane and in a direction substantially radial to the latter ring.

2. In a scutching machine the combination of a plurality of horizontal rings arranged closely side by side, means for revolving such rings on their geometrical axes adjacent rings revolving in opposite directions each of the rings being provided on its upper face with concentric grooves, elastic cords, the working stretch of which follows that part of the grooves of their ring which moves towards the next following ring, means for guiding back the idle stretch of each elastic cord above its working stretch, means for continuously moving the elastic cords of each ring and means for holding the working stretch of the cords against the grooves in its ring, the two last named means comprising an endless chain of blocks hinged the one to the other, a series of weighted levers carrying rollers at one end. such rollers being adapted to bear on the blocks of the chain and being arranged in an arc of a circle concentric to and abovethe grooves in the ring. the working stretch of the cords passing between the said rollers and along the grooves in the ring. means for guiding the working stretch of the endless chain of blocks into the space between the said rollers and out of such space and back again whereby the working stretch of the said cords is moved at the same speed and in the same direction as the part of the grooves in the ring which these cords follow and adapted to hold stricks of the material to be scutched at one end in the said grooves and to carry such stricks round with the rings, means for scutching the other'endsrof the said stricks, while the latter are thus carried round andmeans for disengaging the first rings on their geometrical axes, adjacent rlngs revloving in opposite dlrecticns, each of the rings being provided on its upper face with concentric grooves, endless elastic cords, the working stretch of which follows that part of the grooves of their ring which moves towards the next following ring,

arranged closely side by side, means forrevo'lvmg such means for guiding back the idle stretch of each elastic cord above'its working stretch,

means for continuously moving the elastic cords of each ring and means for holding the working stretch of the cords against the grooves in its ring, the working stretch, of such cordsmoving at the same speed and in the same direction as the part of the grooves of its ringwhich these cords follow and adapted to hold stricks of the material to be soutched at one end in the said grooves whereby the said stricks are carried round by the rings, means for scutching the other ends of the said stricks, while the latter are thus carried round and a series of conveyor rollers and a conveyor band between the delivery end of theworking stretch of the cords of one ring'and the entering end of the working stretch of the cords of the next following ring whereby the free ends of the stricks clamped in the former ring are transferred in a" substantially horizontal plane and in a p direction substantially radial to the entering end of the working stretch of the cords of the latter'ring. I I

4. In a scutching machine the combination of a plurality of-horizontal rings arranged closely side by side, means for revolving such rings on their geometrical axes adjacent rings revolving in opposite directions each H of the rings being provided on its upper face with concentric grooves, elastic cords, the working stretch of which follows that partof the grooves of their ring which moves to wards the next following ring, means for guiding back the idle stretch of each elastic cord above its working stretch, means for continuously moving the elastic cords of each ring and means for holding the working stretch of the cords against the grooves in its ring, the two last named means comprising an endless chain of blocks hinged the one to the other, a. series of weighted levers carrying rollers at one end. such rollers being adapted to bear on the blocks of the chain and being arranged in an arc of a circle concentric to and above the grooves in the ring, the working stretch of the cords passing be-' tween the said rollers and along the grooves as the part of the grooves in the ring which.

these cords follow and adapted to hold strioks of the material toscutehed at one end in the said grooves and to carry suehstricks round with the rings and a series of conveyor rollers and a conveyor band between the delivery end of the working stretch of thecords of one ring and the entering end of the working stretch of the cords of the next following ring whereby the free ends of the strioks clamped in the former ring are transferred in a substantially horizontal plane and in a direction substantially radial to the entering end of the working stretch of the cords of the latter ring.

IGNAZ ETRICH.

iWitnesses: V

O'rro HEMPMNG, RICHARD TRIEBEL.

In testimony whereof; I affix my signature 1n presence of two witnesses. 

